Printing telegraph



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D. E. PIKE. PRINTING TELEGRAPH.

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UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE, t

DANIEL E. PIKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., lASSIVGINOR TO THE WESTERN UNION -TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

PRINTING-TELEG-RAPH.

SPECIFICATION To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL E. PIKE, of the city, county, and State of New York, a citizen of the United States, have made a new and usefull, Improvement inl Printing Telegraph Transmitters, of which the followingis a specication.

My invention relates to that class of printing-telegraphs in which the rotation of the type-wheels is effected or controlled by short electrical impulses transmitted over the main line by means of apparatus including as one of its features what is commonly known as a rotating pulsator.77 Heretoforeothers have employed a rotating pulsator in connection with one main line for controlling the rotation of the type-wheels and a second main line for operatingthe printing mechanism. In such systems, however, the rotating pulsator was arrested vat the printing of each character, and after arresting the pulsator and the type-wheels a current was transmitted over the press-cir cuit.

My invention has for its object an arrangement of apparatus whereby the press mechanism mayin general be operated when the typewheels are brought into position for printing any desired character vwithout arresting the rotating pulsator or suspending the step-bystep rotation of the type-wheels.

Figure 1 isadiagram matic view of my printing-telegraph system, in which the relays and local circuits are omitted lfor convenience of illustration. Fig. 2 is a drawing which shows the transmitter when provided with its local circuits as ordinarily used in practice. Fig.

' 3 is a sectional view through the key-lever'and cylinder.

For convenience of illustration I will first refer to Fig. l of the drawings.

I? is the rotating pulsator of a printing-tele graph transmitter whose periphery is provided with alternate conducting and insulating sections.

B is a spring whose free end rests upon the periphery of the pulsator, while its other end is connected to mainline L", which includes the typewheel electro-magnets M of the receiving-in'struments.

C is a conducting brush or spring, one end of which rests upon a rotating sleeve connected with the conducting part of the pulsator P,

While its other end is connected by wire L with one pole of the battery V. The other pole of said battery Vis connected 'to earth G; y is a pinion gearing with any suitable motor, and is mounted upon a shaft, y', to which is afiixed the rotating pulsator P and gearwheel a, the latter meshing with wheel b, to which is connected shaft @and a sunflower-arm,

T, whose free end as it rotates sweeps over a circular series of sunflower-strips S.

B is a Spring whose free end rests upon the rotatingshaft c, its other end being connected to main line L', which includes the press-magnet M of the circuit. The two main lines L L, after passing through the receiving-instru ments, are connected together and to earth G.`

To the same poleof the battery Btc which the wire L is connected a wire, L, is joiued,which leads to the anvils or contact-stops, by branch wires, of the transmitting-keys 7c lo 7c k, and t the transmitting-keys arein turn respectively joined by wires h h h L with corresponding sunflower-strips.

It will nowbe seen'that if it is desired to print a character a transmitting-key represent-- ing such character must be depressed, thus closing the press-circuit Lat one of its two disrupted points. After depressing a fingerkey the circuit will only remain broken or disrupted at the sunflower, and will be closed when the sunliower-arm has rotated into contact with thatone of the suniiower-strips to. which the depressed key is connected. Thus it will be seen that the press-circuit L', which is normally broken at two points, will first be closed at a transmitting-key and subsequently at the sunflower through the sunflower-strip connected with said key, the sunflower-arm, shaft c, and spring B. The suniiowerarmand rotating pulsator, being geared together, rotate in unison, while the sunflower-strips are equal in number to the sections of the rotating pulsator. Thus, while the pulsator T rotates the distance of one of its peripheral spaces, the sunflower-arm passes through a distance equal to the width of one of the suniiower-strips. If, therefore, it were necessary for the pulsator to transmit twoimpulses to bring thetypewheel from its initial position into the desired position for printing, it will be seen that the sunflower-arm wouldI bero'tated a corresponding distance-that is,\ over four sunflower- ICO Y resting-pin d of the rotating cylinder.

printed.

strips and into Contact with that one of the sunflower-strips which is .connected with the transmitting-key representing the letter to be In other words, upon depressing a transmitting-key the sunflower-arm will afterward complete the press-circuit at the instant a suiiicient number of impulses have been transmitted over the type -wheel circuit to bring the desired character on the type-wheels to a position opposite the press-pad.

Fig. 2 represents an arrangement of appa` ratus whereby the-pulsator may be arrested when it is desired to repeat the impression of a character in printing messages. Vith the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 an impression could only be repeated at each successive rotation of the pulsator--a method which is inferior from the fact that the speed of rotation is limited.

In Fig. 2, A B C represent the ordinary finger-keys of a printing-telegraph transmitter, provided with stops e (shown in Fig. 3) for arresting the rotation of the cylinder D by means of t-he spirally-arranged lugs or projections d. Each of the arresting-keys A B Gis provided with a vertical slot or opening,within which is placed a stationary metallic pin, m, having an anvil, x, to which is connected a corresponding sunliowerstrip by one ot' the wires h 7L 7L, &c.

A B C are contact-keys provided with conducting-points n, which are normally out of contact with the upper end, m, of the anvil The key-contacts n are connected by a series of branch wires, t' j la, and wire g with one pole of the battery V. Ordinarily in printing characters it is only necessary to depress one of the contact-keys A B G', thus closing the contactpoints n m, and thereby placing the press-circuit in condition to be closed when the sunflower-arm T is brought into contact with the sunflower-strip corresponding with the key depressed. As shown in Fig. 2, this circuit is completed from one pole to the other of the battery V by way of point t, wire p, and thence by relay It, wire v, brush B', sunflowerarm T, a sunflower-strip and one of the branch wires h h h, contacts n m, one of the branch wires i j 7c, and wire g. At the same time battery V forms a part of a circuit, as follows: point p, wire q, relay R', wire w, pulsatorbrush B, the rotating pulsator, brush C', wire l, point u, and wire g. When, however, it is desired to repeat the impression of a character, as C, the arresting key G is depressed, bringing the stop c into the path of rotation of ar- By thus arresting the rotating cylinder a continuous electrical condition will be maintained upon the main line and rotation of the typewheels arrested in the required position for printing. Vhen so arrested, the contact-key C will be depressed, bringing the contacts n m together, thereby completing the press-circuit, the sunflower-arm T having already been brought in contact with the sunflower-strip which is connected with contact m. To repeat circuit, including the relay R, is closed and opened, for when closed the armature of relay R connects battery Q, with the main line L', thus causing an impression to be printed. Upon breaking the local circuit the armature of relay R removes battery Q from the line, and the press mechanism falls to its normal position, and in so doing feeds the paper strip upon which the message is printed the space of aletter. Thus it is apparent that characters may be repeated by simply repeating the operation of closingand opening the local circuits, including relay R. Paper-feeding mechanism is not here shown, for the reason that such apparatus is well known in the art and requires no explanation.

The relay R controls the main-line presscircuit L', including press-magnet M', while relay R controls the main-line type-wheel circuit L,which includes type-wheel magnets M M. These two main-line circuits are shown with earth-terminals G G' and respective batteries O Q. At one end the lines are connected together at pointr, and thence to earth G.

In Fig. l I have shown as means for effecting the rotation of the type-Wheel W a clockmotor and escapement-pallets, E, for releasing and controlling its movement; but I do not wish to limit myself to such an arrangement, as my invention is equally applicable to printing-instruments in which the type-wheels are positively driven by the electro-magnetic escapement.

It is obviously necessary to employ the two shafts y c and the gear-wheels a b, inasmuch as the sunflower-arm, instead of being mounted on shaft c, might equally well be atxed to the shaft of the pulsator-Wheel P. To effect this modification it would only be necessary to insulate the sunflower-arm from the pulsator- Wheel. p

What I claim, and desire to ,secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a printing-telegraph system, two main lines, one for controlling the type-wheels and the other the press mechanism, a constantlyrotating pulsator in the type-wheel circuit, a sunflower arrangement whose arm rotates with the pulsator, and transmitting-keys in connection with the press-circuit, for the purpose described.

2. In a printing-telegraph system, a rotating pulsator and a sunflower-arm rotating in unison therewith, a type-wheel circuit connected with said pulsator, and a printing-circuit connecting with the sunflower devices, the arrangement being such that characters may be printed during rotation of the pulsator and type-wheels, substantially as described.

3. A rotating pulsator or its equivalent, a sunflower device having an arm which rotates IOO IOS

IIO

s* 378.107l l 3 in unison withthe pulsator, a series of transby the pulsator and theother by the sunflowc mitting-keys connected with said sunflower device, substantially as described. arrangement, a main line for controlling the 5. In a printingtelegraph transmitter, a ropress mechanism, and a second main line contating pulsator, a set of arresting-keys, a sec- 15 5 nected with pulsator for control-ling the typel ond set of keys'provided with electrical con- Wheels, substantially as described. tacts, and a press-circuit which is controlled.

4. In a printing-telegraph transmitter, a robyl said second set of keys 'rating pulsator and a sunflower arrangement, y DANIEL E. PIKE. two sets of transmitting-keys, one for closing Witnesses: no the press-circuit and the other for arresting WM. ARNOUX,

the pnlsator, and two circuits, one controlled JAMES STELLGES. 

